The Bible Defined

JOURNEY

THROUGH THE

A 9 PART EXPLORATION OF GOD’S WORD

PART 1

BIBLEF BIBLE The Bible Defined What Is This Book We Call The Bible? Books Of The Bible Fun Bible Facts How We Got The Bible

APOSTOLIC

NETWORK

PUBLICATIONS

john atkinson

Table of Contents Chapter 1: What is This Book We Call The Bible? .................................. 3 Purpose Of This Course ....................................................................... 3 The Word Of God ................................................................................ 3 What the Word of God Says About Itself ................................... 4 What Others Have Said About The Bible ................................. 5 External Proofs That The Bible is True ..................................... 5 It is the Word! ....................................................................................... 5 Study Questions.................................................................................... 6

Chapter 2: The Books of The Bible ........................................................... 7 Chapter and Verse ................................................................................. 7 The Old Testament .............................................................................. 8 Old Testament Facts ................................................................ 8 Basic Divisions of the Old Testament ........................................ 8 The New Testament ........................................................................... 10 New Testament Facts .............................................................. 10 Basic Divisions of the New Testament ..................................... 10 Abbreviations and Reference Notation ................................................ 12 Study Questions.................................................................................. 12

Chapter 3: Intermission – Fun Bible Facts ............................................. 13 Psalm 118 Facts .................................................................................. 13 Science Before Science Knew It ........................................................... 14

Chapter 4: How We Got The Bible ....................................................... 15 The Flow Of God’s Word .................................................................... 15 Revelation ............................................................................. 15 Inspiration ............................................................................ 15 Manuscripts .......................................................................... 16 Translation ........................................................................... 16 Preservation .......................................................................... 17 Translations ........................................................................................ 17 Study Questions.................................................................................. 18

Appendix A: King James Words ............................................................. 19

1

All Scripture Quotations Are From the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Hebrew definitions from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon, Greek definitions are from the Thayer’s Lexicon unless otherwise noted

Copyright © 2004 by Apostolic Network, All Rights Reserved

2

Chapter 1 What is This Book W Wee Call The Bible? Purpose Of This Course The purpose of this course is to teach a brief overview of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in 9 parts. It’s main focus is: • • • • •

To define the Bible To describe the attributes of it To familiarize the student with basic Biblical concepts and definitions of terms To illustrate the “big picture” of God’s plan for man To give a brief overview of each book, and it’s place in God’s plan.

In this first section we will cover the following: • • • •

The books of the Bible Bible book name meanings and abbreviations Facts about the Bible How the Bible came to be

The W or d Of God Wor ord The first thing we must recognize is that the Bible contains the Word of God. The Word of the Lord isn’t like any other writings on earth. This book exists for a reason. There is none other like it. It was written by 40 different men over a period of 1500 years. Yet it is clearly the work of a single mind. It has 40 writers, but only one author. No other book considered “Holy” by the different world religions can make that claim. Here are some of those books and their writer’s: 1. The Koran (Islam) – Written by Mohammed in 600 A.D. THE WORK OF ONE MAN! 2. The four Vedas (Hindu) – Written by Menu the son of Brahma about 1100 BC. THE WORK OF ONE MAN! 3. Tri Pitikes (Buddhism) – Written by Sidharta Guatama around 600 BC. THE WORK OF ONE MAN! Each of these religions find their source in the philosophies of a single individual. A man with a beginning and an ending. Yet the Bible maintains it’s unity of purpose and scope having been written by 40 different 3

men who lived in different times, different cultures and came from different backgrounds: socially, economically and racially.

• •

Isaiah was a prophet to the royal court of Judah. He came from wealth and privilege. Amos, a prophet his contemporary was a farmer. Peter was a fishermen. Paul a trained and educated theologian from the ruling Jewish sect; the Pharisees. Luke was a Greek physician with no Biblical training or background.

How do we know the Bible is truly the Word of God? What evidence is there that attests to this fact? The scripture says: … In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. – 2 Corinthians 13:1

Here are three witnesses: • What the Bible says about itself.

• •

What others say about the Bible. External proofs that the Bible is true.

What the Word of God Says About Itself The Bible testifies several things about the truth and power of the Word of God • That it is profitable for doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16).

• • • • • • •

4

That it is Spirit and Life (John 6:63). That God inspired men to put it on paper (2 Peter 1:21). That it will accomplish the purpose for which God sends it (Isaiah 55:11). That it is Alive, Powerful and Perceptive (Hebrews 4:12) That the hearing of it invokes faith (Romans 10:17). That it is the source of the New Birth (1 Peter 1:23). That it is to be spiritually perceived (1 Corinthians 2:14).

What Others Have Said About The Bible Some of the most prominent figures in US history were men who believed that the Bible is the Word of God. • God’s Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct. – Noah Webster. • I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to men. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book. – Abraham Lincoln. • Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties; write its precepts on your hearts and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for the progress made, and to this we must look as our guide in the future. – Ulysses S. Grant. • It is impossible rightly to govern the world without God and the Bible. – George Washington. • The Bible is the cornerstone of Liberty. – Thomas Jefferson.

External Proofs That The Bible is True • Fulfilled Prophecy – Jesus Christ fulfilled completely 332 prophecies in the Old Testament concerning himself. • Scientific Discoveries – Multiple verses in the Old Testament reveal knowledge that scientists have only discovered in the last 500 years. • Biblical Archeology – Archeological Discoveries in the last 100 years have done much to confirm and validate the writings of the Bible. Discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed the accuracy of the Old Testament. • Best Selling Book – Over 800,000,000 copies sold since 1611. Over 2,000,000 per year, and over 5000 per day. This is a very conservative estimate, and it doesn’t include those translated for missionary work. Top that Buddha. • The Testimony of the People of God – Perhaps the most important proof! The Bible says that things will happen when people receive God into their lives … AND THEY DO!

It is the W or d! Wor ord! Understanding that the Bible contains the Word of God is the first step to understanding that God has a plan for man collectively, and for you individually! By knowing that God is able to speak to us we take the first step to believing and being born again. 5

Study Questions 1. The Bible contains the _______________ of __________. 2. The Bible was written over a period of __________ years. 3. The Bible was written by _______ different men, but only has _______ author. 4. 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All _________ is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 5. Isaiah 55:11 states “So shall my ________ be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall ________ that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” 6. Romans 10:17 reads: “So then _______ cometh by ________, and hearing by the ______ of God.” 7. Hebrews 4:12 reads: “For the word of God is __________, and __________, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a _______________ of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 8. How many Old Testament Prophecies did Jesus Christ fulfill? _________________ 9. Who said, “The Bible is the cornerstone of Liberty”? __________________________ 10. Understanding that the Bible contains the Word of God is the first step to understanding _____________________________________

6

Chapter 2 The Books of The Bible This chapter is more than just a table of contents for the Bible. It is a introduction to the 66 books that make up the Bible. The Bible is divided into 2 parts:

• •

The Old Testament – 39 Books The New Testament – 27 Books

In turn each of these are divided into categories (see Figures 1 and 2 on the following pages).

Quick Fact

Bible The word Bible comes from the Latin word Biblia, which simply means “books”! It isn’t one book – it is a collection of 66 books!

Chapter and VVerse erse The chapter/verse division of the Bible is man-made (but you can still see the hand of God even in this in Chapter 3: Bible Facts). The Old Testament was divided into chapters and verses in 1443, with the New Testament following in 1451.

Definition

Testament In Biblical Terminology a Testament is a covenant, or agreement, between God and Man. The “Old Covenant” and the “New Covenant”.

The chapter and verse division of the scripture makes it easy for us to search and find the different verses and communicate them to one another!

7

The Old TTestament estament Old Testament Facts • Contains 39 Books

• • • • •

•

Written from 1400 B.C. to 400 B.C. Written in the Hebrew language. Target audience the Hebrew (Jewish) race. Central Them: The promise of the coming Messiah (Jesus Christ). Relevance to us: 1) Examples of God dealing with his people. 2) Promises and warnings to the people of Israel can apply to us collectively and individually. The Old Testament, though fulfilled in Jesus Christ is still the Word of God.

Definition

Messiah Literally means “the anointed one”. This word is transliterated from the Hebrew word “Mashaich”. Because of Jesus it has taken the contemporary meaning of: champion, defender or savior.

Basic Divisions of the Old Testament The Old Testament is divided into four basic divisions, These divisions are simply man’s attempt at categorization for easy remembrance. Note that these divisions aren’t the end-all as there is History contained in the Law, Prophetic writings in both the Law and the Poetic Books. These divisions are for sake of categorization only. They are: • The Law or Penteteuch – 5 Books

• • •

The Historical Books – 12 Books The Poetic Books – 5 Books The Prophetic Books – 17 Books (5 Books - Major Prophets, 12 Books - Minor Prophets). NOTE: There is no such thing as a Major or a Minor Prophet. They were all Prophets delivering the Word of the Lord. The one’s listed as “Major” simply wrote bigger books.

For a list of the books in each category see Figure 1, 8

Major Prophets

The Prophetic Books

Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum

Daniel Hosea Joel

Isaiah Jerimiah Lamentations Song Of Solomon

Job Psalms Proverbs

Esther

2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah

2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings

Joshua Judges Ruth

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

39 Books

The Law

The Historical Books

The Poetic Books

Minor Prophets

Figure 1: The Old Testament Books and Divisions

9

The New TTestament estament New Testament Facts • Contains 27 Books

• • • • •

•

Written from 40 A.D. to 100 A.D. Written in the Greek language. Target audience the people of the world. Central Theme: The Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Church. Relevance to us: 1) Explains how to be saved. 2) Teaches how to live a Christian life. 3) Contains the Promise of Eternal life. The fruit of the New Testament is “Christ in You, the hope of Glory”.

Definition

Epistles The New Testament contains 21 books called Epistles. An Epistle is merely a letter or message. These were letters written to church assemblies and individuals, and by extension to you and I, by the Apostles

Basic Divisions of the New Testament Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is divided into four basic divisions, These divisions are for sake of categorization only. They are: • The Gospels – 4 Books

• • •

Historical Narrative – 1 Book The Epistles – 21 Books Prophecy – 1 Book

For a list of the books in each category see Figure 2,

10

The General Epistles

Philemon

2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy

Ephesians Philippians Colossians

Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians The Gospels - The Life Of Christ

Revelation

3 John

2 Peter 1 John

Hebrews James

Acts Of The Apostles

Matthew Mark Luke John

27 Books

Historical Narrative

The Pauline Epistles

Revelation

Figure 2: The New Testament Books and Divisions

11

Abbr eviations and Refer ence Notation Abbreviations Reference The standard method of abbreviating the books of the Bible is to use the first three letters of the book. Example: Exodus 1:12 will be written as Exo. 1:12. Philippians 4:8 as Phi. 4:8, 1 Peter 2:5 as 1 Pet. 2:5 This is standard notation and is used not only throughout this course but in many books and article where specific parts of the Bible are referenced. Book

Chapter

Verse

Figure 3: Reference Notation for Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 8 Book

Chapter

Verses

Figure 4: Reference Notation for Isaiah, Chapter 44, Verses 17 through 22

Study Questions 1. The second book of the Law is named __________. 2. The third Old Testament Historical book is ______________. 3. Another word for Testament is ____________________. 4. An Epistle is a letter or _________________. 5. There are _______ Prophetic books in the Old Testament. 6. How many Gospels are there? ___________ 7. What is the first Epistle in the New Testament? 8. What is the reference notation for 1 Corinthians Chapter 2, Verse 5? _________________

12

Chapter 3 Intermission – Fun Bible Facts This chapter is a collection of interesting facts about the Bible.

¼ ¼ ¼

The first English Translation of the Bible was initiated by John Wycliffe in 1382. The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenburg in 1448. The first book ever printed was the Bible. The average person can read the Bible through in about seventy hours reading time. Reading three chapters per day and five on Sundays, you can read your Bible through in one year. About fourteen chapters per day will take you through in three months.

¼

Esther 8:9 is the longest verse, while John 11:35 is the shortest.

¼

The word Bible never appears in the Bible.

¼

There are 1189 chapters and over 31,000 verses in the Bible.

¼

The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119.

¼

The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117.

¼

Which brings us to Psalm 118…

Psalm 118 Facts

• • • • •

Psalm 118 is the middle chapter of the Bible Psa. 118:8 is the middle verse in the Bible. It reads: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” The middle two words in the Bible is “the LORD”. There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and 594 chapters after Psalm 118. Add them up you get 1188, which brings us back to the center verse Psa. 118:8 All that is a coincidence … right? 13

Science Befor Beforee Science Knew It

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

No actual “moon light” – (Job 25:5) Light travels – (Job 38:19) Stars cannot be counted – (Gen. 15:5; 22:17) Empty place in North – (Job 26:7) Earth suspended in space – (Job 26:7) Entropy increases – (Psa. 102:25-27) Pleiades star cluster – (Job 38:31) Sea mounts – (Jon. 2:3-6) Sea springs – (Job 38:16; Pro. 8:28) Submarine canyons – (II Sam. 22:16) Ocean currents – (Psa. 8:8) Earth not flat – (Isa. 40:22) Running water more sanitary, – (Lev. 15:13)

Study Questions 1. The first English translation of the Bible was initiated by _______________ _____________ in the year 1382. 2. The middle chapter of the Bible is _______________. 3. The Middle two words of the Bible are _________ __________. 4. Job 26:7 reads: “He stretcheth out the north over the ___________, and hangeth the earth upon ____________. 5. Isa 40:22 reads: “It is he that sitteth upon the ___________________, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” 6. Lev 15:13 “And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in ____________________, and shall be clean.” 7. The shortest chapter in the Bible is: __________________.

14

Chapter 4 How W Wee Got The Bible The Flow Of God’ or d God’ss W Wor ord How we got the Bible is a process that actually started with the creation of the world, but kicked into high gear around 1450 B.C. Our Bible is the result of a 4 step process with divine oversight throughout.

Revelation

Those steps are illustrated in Figure 5 and are: • Revelation Inspiration Manuscripts Translation

Revelation God reveals things about himself in many ways. God began revealing him self and his plan to Moses around 1450 B.C. As time passed God revealed more of himself and his plan to the other writer’s of the Old Testament. Much of the New Testament was revealed to the Apostles by Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost. Of note: the Old Testament Prophets were inspired to write many things concerning Jesus, things, the meaning of which, was not revealed to them!

Preservation

• • •

Inspiration

Manuscripts

Translation

Inspiration Inspiration is the process that God used to guide the writers of the books of the Bible. Inspiration literally means “Godbreathed”. The source of the scriptures is God. God gave the writers the words to write, and preserved it from then until now.

The Bible Figure 5: The Flow of God’s Word 15

As was mentioned, Inspiration and Revelation are not the same thing. Consider King David. God revealed many things to David about God. However, God inspired David to write many prophecies about Christ, the meaning of which David had no idea.

Manuscripts The books of the Bible were written primarily on parchment and papyrus. Then, copies were made so that people could access them. Until the printing press was invented this was painstakingly done by hand. One of the powerful statements about the truth of the word of God is the sheer volume of original manuscripts available to us today. There are over 5000 copies of the New Testament, the earliest dating back to 150 A.D. Additionally there are even more copies of the Old Testament. In 1947 a Palestinian shepherd boy stumbled into a cave and made a startling discovery … the Dead Sea Scrolls! There, stored in clay jars were portions of original manuscripts from the Old Testament, including a complete book of Isaiah. Translation of these scrolls proved to the academic world that the content and context of the Bible had indeed been preserved through the ages!

Translation Now comes the sticky part. Very few of us speak the Hebrew dialect that Moses did. Very few of us speak the Common Greek of the New Testament that was the trade language of the Roman Empire. Even fewer speak both.

Quick Fact

What Is Up With The Italics? There are a number of words that exist in the English language that do not in the original tongues, words like his, it, is… and so on. Also there are words that are grammatically necessary in English that either aren’t available in the original tongues or were not used.. When using these, the translators were careful and desiring not to risk the original words to be corrupted. Thus they used italics to differentiate the words they added for sake of clarification.

In order for us, or anyone else, to understand the Word of the Lord it must be rendered into the language that we understand. This process is called translation. 16

Preservation Part of having faith in the word of the Lord is having faith in God’s ability to preserve it. The same God who had the ability to reveal himself to his prophets, inspire them to write the words he would have committed to parchment, can also inspire translators to be accurate in their translation. To bring us the pure Word of God, to the end that we may be saved.

Translations Today we face a dilemma. There are so many translations or versions of the Bible on the shelves that it is difficult, without guidance, to pick the one which is right. Translations are available between two benchmarks: • Literal

•

Paraphrase

Figure 6 illustrates the position on the literal to paraphrase scale. At the far New King James Amplified

Today’s English (TEV) The Message

New International (NIV)

Literal

Paraphrase

Interlinear New Revised King James Standard (NRSV)

New International Readers (NIrV)

Living Bible

Figure 6: Version Scale, Literal to Paraphrase

left of the scale you have the most literal translation available, which is the Interlinear. The Interlinear is a direct word-for word translation with the original word above the English word. While accurate, the Interlinear is difficult to read. Very close to the literal end of the spectrum is the King James Version, which we use in this course and is most popular in our churches. This is the translation of the Bible that we recommend that you use.

WARNING!

Paraphrase Versions Avoid Paraphrase Versions like “the Message” and “Today’s English Version” like the plague. In paraphrasing the Bible, it ceases being the word of God and becomes the word of man!. These versions are easy to read and entertaining … BUT NOT PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE!

17

Study Questions 1. ________________ is the way God shows himself. 2. The Prophets and Writers of the books of the Bible recieved the Word of God by _____________________. 3. There are over ___________ copies of New Testament manuscripts available. 4. In 1947, the __________ _________ __________ were discovered, validating the accuracy of many Old Testament manuscripts. 5. The process by which a manuscript is rendered from the original language to another is called ______________ . 6. When using a word that didn’t exist in the original language, but is grammatically necessary in English, the translators put the word in ______________ so that we would understandthat it was not used in the original text. 7. God _______________ his Word so that we may have access to the true word of the Lord. 8. What is the most literal translation? _________________ 9. What is the least literal translation? _________________ 10. What version of the Bible holds the middle spot between literal and paraphrase? ____________________________

18

Appendix A King James W or ds Wor ords 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49)

abjects, outcasts adamant, very hard stone affinity, related by marriage afore, before amerce, fine amiable, lovely anathema, cursed anon, immediately apothecary, spice dealer assay, attempt asswage, restrain avouched, declared beeves, cattle besom, broom bestead, facing difficulty bewrayeth, betrays blains, boils, sores bowels, affections bruit, rumour, report buckler, small shield bunches, humps careless, free from care,secure carriages, baggage causeway, paved road chamberlain, household manager chapiter, head of a column charger, large dish chode, complained churl, miserly clouts, rags coasts, borders cockatrice, adder, cobra cockle, weeds coffer, box collops, lumps comeliness, beauty compass, go around confectionaries, ointment makers contemn, despise convocation, assembly coulter, plough blade covert, shelter cumbered, worried cunning, skill curious, embroidered curious arts, sorcery custom, tax damsel, girl daysman, mediator

50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 70) 71) 72) 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78) 79) 80) 81) 82) 83) 84) 85) 86) 87) 88) 89) 90) 91) 92) 93) 94)

describe, divide descry, search out diadem, head dress, crown dispensation, steward ship, distribution distaff, rod for holding wool divers, different divination, magical prediction earing, ploughing earnest, deposit, pledge emerods, swellings ensue, to follow eschew, avoid fain, gladly fetters, shackels fray, frighten fret, to be worried, angry froward, perverse fuller, cleaner of cloth garner, barn gier eagle, vulture gin, trap greaves, leg armour grisled, grey hart, deer helve, ax handle holpen, helped hosen, stockings hough, cut hamstrings husbandman, farmer implead, accuse jangling, foolish talking kine, cows laden, loaded laud, praise leasing, lying leaven, yeast lewd, vicious listeth, chooses mammon, riches maul, hammer mete, to measure mitre, head dress muffler, facial scarf murrain, cattle plague noisome, very hurtful

19

95) 96) 97) 98) 99) 100) 101) 102) 103) 104) 105) 106) 107) 108) 109) 110) 111) 112) 113) 114) 115) 116) 117) 118) 119) 120) 121) 122) 123) 124) 125) 126) 127) 128) 129) 130) 131) 132) 133) 134) 135) 136) 137) 138) 139) 140) 141) 142) 143) 144) 145)

20

pate, head peradventure, perhaps pilled, peeled polled, cut hair post, mail man potsherd, broken pottery pottage, soup profane, dishonorable proselyte, convert publican, tax collector pulse, vegetables purtenance, internal organs quarternions, group of four guards quick, alive quit, behave rail, boldly speak against rase, destroy rereward, rear guard rue, a herb savour, taste scall, sore scrip, bag seethe, boil severally, separately shambles, meat market silverlings, silver coins sleight, deceitfulness sod, boiled sottish, foolish stay, support strake, streak subtil, sly, cunning tabering, hitting taches, fastenings tell, count tares, weeds tire, head dress traffick, trade trow, think usury, interest vagabond, fugitive vaunt, boast venture, at random vestments, apparel vex, trouble victuals, food vile, useless, wicked wist, knew wont, accustomed wot, know wroth, wrathful, angry

21

JOURNEY

THROUGH THE

BIBLE

PART 1 The Bible Defined 12 New London Tpke #380 • Norwich, CT • 06360 (860)859-0653 • [email protected] http://www.christianquill.com • http://www.apostolic.net

APOSTOLIC

NETWORK

PUBLICATIONS

Copyright © 2004 Apostolic Network Ministries